Red Velvet is all the craze these days but it is just as easy to make {green} velvet treats for St. Patrick’s Day or any other green celebration. And green is one of the easiest natural food colorings to make. As with my St. Patrick’s {Green} Jelly Roll Cake, I used spinach juice in these buttermilk pancakes to give them their beautiful shamrock hue. I substituted spinach juice for roughly half of the buttermilk but you don’t need to use that much if you want a lighter color. Layer the pancakes with homemade whipped cream and top with a shamrock pancake for a festive way to start St. Paddy’s Day.

*Made with and without the sugar, the pancakes still had their “normal” flavor. With that said, however, due to the fact that pancakes alone,without the toppings, tend to be very low in sugar, you may not want to use much more juice than I used to avoid any hint of spinach flavor.

Layer naturally-dyed green velvet pancakes with homemade whipped cream and top with a shamrock pancake for a festive way to start St. Paddy's Day.

Ingredients

Green Velvet Buttermilk Pancakes

1 cup flour

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 egg white

½ cup buttermilk

½ cup spinach juice

2 Tbsp oil

Whipped Cream

½ pint of heavy whipping cream

½ – 1 tsp vanilla, to taste

½ Tbsp sugar, to taste

Instructions

Green Velvet Pancakes

Mix the dry ingredients.

Stir in the wet ingredients.

Heat a griddle to medium heat and cook the pancakes until they are lightly golden brown on each side.

Stack the pancakes on a plate, layered with homemade whipping cream.

If desired, use a cookie cutter to cut a shamrock (or mini hearts arranged like a shamrock) out of one of the pancakes.

Use the shamrock pancake as the top garnish of your green velvet pancake cake.

Whipped Cream

Mix the ingredients together and beat on high using a hand-held mixer or a KitchenAid mixer with the whisk attachment. It will take several minutes for the liquid cream to transform into fluffy peaks.

If you beat the whipping cream until it is too stiff you can add more cream and continue beating. This is also a good trick if you are using leftovers the next day. Leftover whipped cream often starts to separate and lose its form. Simply add more cream (if need be) and whip it again.

2 Responses to “Green Velvet Pancakes”

Linda, my family did not taste the spinach with the ratio I used. Especially with sweet toppings like whipped cream and maple syrup, there is not even the slightest hint. However, it is all based on personal preference for color and taste — if you want a darker green pancake and add more spinach juice, then you may start to taste the spinach. Please let me know what you think if you try them!